Plenty of fans had their eyes on Harry Jowsey’s *NSYNC-inspired routine for “Dancing With the Stars” Tuesday night — including Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass.
During the show’s “Music Video Night,“ the “Too Hot to Handle” alum and his pro partner, Rylee Arnold, performed a jazz routine to “It’s Gonna Be Me.”
Jowsey dressed as the doll-like version of Timberlake in the Wayne Isham-directed music video from 2000, while Arnold portrayed one of the Barbies the boy band meets around the 1:50 mark.
The reality star revealed in an exclusive interview with Page Six that Timberlake was well aware that the performance was happening — all thanks to the show’s co-host.
“Justin Timberlake saw me in this, which is crazy. Alfonso [Ribeiro] texted him and sent him a photo. And he just said, ‘Hahaha,’” he shared.
“But like, did he not want me to be a backup dancer? Like, what’s going on? JT, come on. I know you watch this.”
In addition to hearing from Timberlake, Jowsey, 26, and Arnold, 18, also received a surprise, in-person visit from Bass during rehearsals for their highly anticipated routine.
“Honestly, I was a little bit nervous. It was a little bit nerve-wracking because, yeah, like, he knows what he’s doing; it’s his bread and butter,” he said of Bass.
“They didn’t put it in [our live show package], but the first few steps [in rehearsal], I definitely messed it up. We had to start again because I was like, ‘Oh my God, Lance is here.’”
Jowsey said he also received some helpful advice from Bass, who previously competed on Season 7 of the dance competition series with Lacey Schwimmer.
“He was telling me to connect with someone in the crowd, bring my eyes up, breathe deep and relax a lot, which is, I’ve been hearing it a lot. But for him to say it, I was like, ‘OK, maybe I should probably listen, because he knows what he’s doing.’”
As for Arnold, she, too, was “really starstruck” by Bass’ appearance, telling us, “Just the fact that he was watching my choreography … it’s just insane, and so cool.”
Jowsey told us that despite receiving the lowest score of the night — a 24/40 from the judges — he had a blast performing the routine alongside Arnold, with Gleb Savchenko and Alan Bersten serving as their backup dancers.
“Just having the boys with us as well, and feeling like a part of a boy band [with] Riley hyping us up, it was just such a fun night,” he marveled.
“Obviously, the scores weren’t in our favor, but I feel like this was just the best time. We got to be in character and have fun. It was awesome.”
Jowsey and Arnold’s spirits were lifted later in the show, however, when they received a perfect score for their team dance to PSY’s “Gangnam Style.” Jowsey was elected captain for “Team Young’n Style” — also made up of Xochitl Gomez, Lele Pons and Charity Lawson — which meant a lot to the Australian native.
“I was so terrible at sports [growing up]. I was always in the worst team and I was never the team captain. I always was envious,” he recalled. “The fact that I got to [be team captain] for being the worst one here, it’s kind of crazy. So I got to live out like two childhood dreams.”
Arnold added, “It was just so awesome and I feel like everyone just like lifted him this week. He really killed the dance and was just such a great team captain.”
Meanwhile, “Vanderpump Rules” star Ariana Madix channeled pop icon Britney Spears with a cha cha inspired by the “I’m a Slave 4 U” music video.
“As soon as I knew there was going to be a ‘Music Video Night,’ it’s like, ‘There’s gotta be Britney representation, right?’ And then you think, ‘Well, who’s going to do Britney?’” she told Page Six after the performance. “And I’m like, ‘It has to me be, please,’ because that is my girl! So I was thrilled.”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+, with new episodes streaming the following day on Hulu.
